With all of the ‘Go! Go! Go!’ of city life, sometimes it’s nice to slow down and take a well-deserved nap. Sure, sleeping in bed is the classic place to catch a snooze, but if you’re feeling adventurous, San Francisco has some great outdoor napping areas perfect for a quick rest. Below are the top five places to take a nap in the city.
A lot of people tend to compare the Golden Gate Park with New York’s Central Park and some say the latter is much better. Well, it really depends on what you’re looking for. The Golden Gate Park is a much more natural setting than its East Coast Counterpart. You know the type: good for gatherings and picnics on weekends, and laying out a big blanket to get your snore on. You should be able to find a suitable parking space on MLK Drive or Nancy Pelosi Drive. What with all of the tall trees, finding shade to rest will not be a problem. Because of the trees, the overall temperature is noticeably lower than some other urban areas, making it the perfect environment for someone wanting to get out of the sun.
There are so many areas embedded within San Francisco that people take for granted when living here, and Twin Peaks is one of them. This area offers a gorgeous view of the whole Bay Area for free and you certainly can’t beat those prices – because there is none. Every visit should be beautiful no matter what time of the day you come. For people that have never been here before, the drive can be a challenge but it will be worth it once you decide to take a nap and soak it all in. The view of the Bay Bridge and the Coit Tower is breathtaking. This can be a hot spot for tourists, coming here to take pictures and enjoying the lovely view. If you plan to take an all-day nap, there are bathrooms, and spotting scopes, which cost 50c to use, at the top. If you go during the weekend, on a nice day there is usually an ungodly amount of tourists there who are usually pretty ruthless about taking pictures, so weekdays might be better for sleep and solitude.
The Golden Gate National Recreational Area is more beautiful than if a Claude Monet painting and a Pablo Picasso masterpiece were caught in bed together. It is one of the best places to catch a nap in San Francisco. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area was set up to protect a large portion of the city and coast for enjoying its views, history and countryside. Each area offers a unique experience. It is incredible what they have done to preserve the Presidio alone, and worth the drive around. Enjoy this part of the San Francisco experience while you’re resting up to experience everything else. Once you drive up the hill for a while, you can start hiking up to find a nice place to lay out during the day.
This place is beautiful amid the chaos of the Financial District. It’s such a stark contrast: you have tall buildings with hurrying people on cell phones and then you walk into this park area and all you can see and hear is the roaring sounds of a waterfall. Other than pure silence, there is no better sound to fall asleep to. It is beautiful and somehow poetic. The air just seems so much more clean and fresh there. Grab a Beard Papapastry puff from across the street and nibble it as you wander through the hedge maze, or have a lazy Sunday morning drinking Blue Bottle and soaking up sun on the grass. It is a perfect pit-stop to catch some rest before continuing your tour of the city and surroundings.
If you’re looking all over the city for a quiet area to take a nap, head to the UCSF Library. In addition to having several floors with a mixture of cubicles, study rooms only available to UCSF students, large study tables and couches, the view is unbeatable. With the library situated on top of Parnassus, your naps don’t appear as dreary with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. This is a sweet resting spot. Go on weekends because parking can be a pain on the weekdays when it’s limited to two hours or meter parking. Come at around 4pm if you really want to stay here, since the two hour limit ends at 6pm.
